According to a recent study performed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were less workplace injuries in 2013 than the years prior. This is good news to business owners who try their best to protect their employees and provide them with a safe place to work.
The BLS reported their findings from the study on apress release, stating that while there were still 3.0 million nonfatal workplace injuries reported in 2013, the numbers have been declining every year for the last ten years, except for 2012 when they rose slightly.
The majority of the improvements in nonfatal workplace injuries were in the utility, retail, and manufacturing sectors, where the private sectors still needed to work on reducing their workplace illnesses and injuries.
Results From the 2013 Survey
The 2013 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses showed a considerable improvement in workplace injuries and illnesses as compared to the last several years, according to BLS. They saw the best reduction in injuries in the manufacturing, utility and retail industries. Once again, the manufacturing industry showed that the rate of injuries connected to job transfers was higher than the cases where the employee miss days from work.
The new incident rate for injuries in private industries overall is down to 3.1 per 100 workers who have full-time shifts. This is down from the 2012 rate of 3.2 cases for 100 full-time workers. While the injuries are down, the rate of illnesses has not changed.
There was an even bigger drop in injuries and illnesses for state and local government workers, down from 5.6 per 100 workers in 2012 to 5.2 per 100 workers in 2013. Local government individual numbers continue to be higher than other sectors at 6.1 cases per 100 full-time employees, but it is down from 5.7 in the previous year.
Moving Forward
Dr. David Michaels of the Occupational Safety and Health offices reported that he is encouraged by these new numbers, in a statement regarding the survey. He said:
“We are encouraged that the rates continue to decline over the past few years, even during this period of healthy economic growth when we would expect the rate of injuries to rise.”
He goes on to say that the hope is more business owners will continue to strive for a safer workplace and continued decline of workplace illnesses and injuries.
While this is good news, it is still vital that you protect your business and employees with a workers’ compensation insurance policy. In the event of a workplace injury, their medical expenses are covered and your business is protected.
